rs8001

A better known incident was that for which Lt. Calley was court martialed and eventially pardoned by President Nixon has been all but forgotten. The book "Four Hours in My Lai" covers the massacre of hundreds of Vietnamese.

Things I got from reading this book and Lt Calley's own book were: 1) American troops were being killed by boobie traps and guerilla type attacks. Yet whenever troops rolled into a village VC were rarely found. Morale was low. 2) Like it says in the article above command was interested in a body count. It was assumed this would mean armed VC were those that had been killed. This was not always the case. It certianly was not in My Lai. 3) Troops were doing horrible things before this particular massacre. These things included rape and torture. 4) Although hundreds of Vietmanese elderly, women, and children were killed this incident would not have come to light or been investigated if two particular individuals had not done the right thing.

I have never served in the armed forces. I can only imagine what these men went through. I believe the worst offenders should have been punished. There were many others in the same situation that did not sink to the level these men did. I also believe the blame (or fault) must be leveled against those in our government and military who put our troops in such an impossible situation.